How to Optimize your Ranking in App Stores

Are you developing the next big Hit? Great! In order to optimize your number of downloads, you need to optimize your app’s ranking. Indeed, smartphone users look for new apps through 2 main tools: the top charts on the store and the search bar.

Here’s some advice on how to get the best ranking on Apple and Google’s App Stores:

Keywords

It’s important to find the right keywords before you launch your app. Newly released apps seem to have a better chance of getting a higher ranking by the stores’ algorithms. You don’t want to miss that chance!

Choose the right keywords for your package name, title and description. Get inspiration from the store suggestions, and choose a short name for your title. Quality is more important than quantity when it comes to the description.

Once your app is live, you can use tools like AppAnnie to review your ranking, and remove keywords to which you rank low.

Downloads

The number of downloads and their growth rate have a high influence on the app’s ranking. It is even more important within the first few days after releasing your app, so share it with your friends, family and on relevant forums.

The most efficient way to get downloads is to buy traffic from ad networks. You can also increase your downloads by having your app featured on websites or apps like Giftiz, which showcase apps against a fee or return traffic.

Keep track of uninstalls as they bring your ranking down. An unusual uninstall rate can mean that there are issues within your app (bugs, loading time).

Retention

Work on having the highest percentage of active users: make sure users can start using your app within minutes (Is the sign-up easy? Is the tutorial too long?) and don’t experience any bugs. Keep your users active: send them notifications and give frequent rewards (e.g., first levels of a game need to be easy to reach).

Make sure you update the app frequently, fix bugs and provide support.

Reviews

Both ratings and the number of reviews count towards your app’s ranking.

Ask your happy users to review your app! Good reviews improve your app’s ranking, but you also need constructive feedback to improve your app. It’s a good idea to include a contact form in your app, so that unhappy users don’t feel the need to get your attention through a bad review.